Members of the public have feared for their health after sewage was pumped into an Oxfordshire waterway for over three days.

Leon Morris from Bicester was in the Hampton Poyle area when he noticed that the sewage had been pumped into the River Cherwell.

After researching online he found that the problem had initially started on Tuesday, March 12, but was still happening days after.

The river is currently flooded and Leon is worried that the sewage water will harm nearby people and animals.

Oxford Mail: The sewage in the river on Wednesday.The sewage in the river on Wednesday. (Image: Leon Morris)

“It was really disgusting,” he said.

“I'd seen in the news that these discharges were happening but I hadn't seen such obvious sewage in the river before.

“The Cherwell is flooded at the moment, so this sludge is covering areas where people will walk and animals will graze.”

The 44-year-old was in Hampton Pyle as he and his wife have a horse in a livery yard there close to the river.

“We go there most days but we haven't seen the sewage before,” said Leon.

“My wife is worried about the health of her horse in a nearby field.

Oxford Mail: The sewage alert.The sewage alert. (Image: Leon Morris)

“I didn't go too close but I could still smell it on my shoes when I got back in the car. Totally gross.

“When I looked on an online map later, pretty much all the rivers in Oxfordshire were being discharged into from sewage treatment plants.”

Thames Water states that the cause of the sewage outbreak is due to the extremely heavy rainfall that has fallen in recent months.

A spokesperson for the company said: “We regard all discharges as unacceptable.

“The excessively heavy rain that our region has experienced this winter means the groundwater and river levels are very high in this area at the moment and the ground is saturated.

“All these issues combined mean there is nowhere for further rain or other flow from nearby land to go and therefore our sewers are struggling to cope.”

Thames Water warned that if the wastewater was not released into the waterway it would have come back up into homes.

“The overflows are designed to operate automatically when the sewer network is about to be overwhelmed which then releases diluted wastewater into rivers, rather than letting it back up into people’s homes,” added the spokesperson.

“We have published plans to upgrade over 250 of our sewage treatment works and sewers across the Thames Valley, including Weston-on-Green sewage treatment works.

“This will improve our ability to treat the high volumes of incoming sewage and reduce the need for overflows during wet weather.”